The invention relates to a vehicle comprising a passenger compartment enclosed by a body, which body includes at least a roof present at the upper side, two side walls positioned opposite each other on either side of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, which join the roof, and a rear wall, which joins both the roof and the side walls.
Generally, the rear part of the passenger compartment is available for transporting goods, such as luggage or the like. One drawback, however, is the fact that voluminous goods, such as furniture, plants or the like, hardly fit into the available space, if at all.
Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide a solution for this problem.
In order to accomplish that objective, the vehicle according to an aspect of the invention includes at least a portion of the rear wall and a rear portion of that roof can be moved in a forward direction so as to form a reduced passenger compartment and a freely accessible loading space located therebehind.
When said rear wall portion and said roof portion have been moved to their forward position, a freely accessible space is formed therebehind, since said loading space is substantially open on the upper side and on the rear side, so that large goods can be received therein.
In one embodiment, adjoining body portions join each other sealingly in the forward position of said rear wall portion and said roof portion. In this manner it is ensured that the comfort of the occupants of the vehicle is not affected. The passenger compartment is fully closed, both in the situation of a passenger compartment having maximum dimensions and in the situation of the passenger compartment having reduced dimensions.
Various solutions are available for effecting such a fully closed passenger compartment in the situation with the reduced dimensions. For example, the rear wall portion sealingly engages one or a number of the following vehicle parts in the forward position: the side walls, the fixed front roof portion, the movable rear roof portion, a vehicle floor, front seats and/or rear seats that are present in the passenger compartment. Within this framework, the sealing engagement between the vehicle parts can be simplified or aided by using additional sealing elements, for example in the form of rubber sealing lips, sealing strips or sealing sections, at the places where said parts engage each other.
In one embodiment of the vehicle according to the invention, the rear wall portion is furthermore pivotable about a transverse axis. The angle at which the rear wall portion is inclined in its original position (on the rear side of the vehicle) can thus be different from the angle of inclination in the forward position. It is conceivable, for example in one embodiment, for the rear wall portion to be inclined at an angle with respect to the vertical in its original position, while it is substantially vertical in its forward position. Such a position change of the rear wall portion is possible because said rear wall portion is pivotable about a transverse axis of the vehicle.
Although it is conceivable per se that the rear wall portion and the rear roof portion are each individually movable in a forward direction, it may be advantageous for the rear wall portion to be jointly moved with the rear roof portion. This can be realized, for example, by using a mechanical connection, for example, links, cables, etc., between the two vehicle portions. Movement of one of said portion, for example the rear roof portion, in a forward direction automatically leads to a corresponding forward movement of the other portion, in this case the rear wall portion.
In the case of such joint movability of the rear roof portion and the rear wall portion, it is possible to interconnect the two portions by means of a hinge. Preferably, said hinge forms a sealing joint between the aforesaid portions in all its positions.
In order to effect a controlled movement of the rear wall portion from its original position to its forward position, the rear wall portion can be provided with suitable guide members such as cams, rollers and the like, which co-act with stationary guideways (e.g. channels or ribs). The selection of the number and type of guide members and guideways depends on the geometry of the vehicle and the desired movement of the rear wall portion.
Thus, the guideways may comprise at least upper guides present at the upper side of the side walls, which extend substantially parallel to the roof, in which case the rear wall portion is provided with corresponding cooperating guide members at its upper side. In such an embodiment, the rear wall portion is freely suspended between the side walls with its guide members, as it were. When the position and the movement of the rear wall portion are to be completely fixated, the guideways may furthermore comprise lower guides present at the bottom side of the side walls, which extend at varying distances from the upper guides, in which case the rear wall portion will be provided with corresponding cooperating guide members at its bottom side as well.
In this embodiment, the aforesaid varying distance between the upper guides and the lower guides functions to impart such a forced movement to the rear wall portion during its forward movement, that the lower side of the rear wall portion can pass obstacles, such as the wheel housings of the vehicle. Also other geometric conditions within the vehicle can necessitate such a forced movement of the rear wall portion. If free forward movement of the rear wall portion is possible, on the other hand, it will also be possible to maintain a constant spacing between the lower guides and the upper guides.
It is further possible for the rear wall portion and the rear roof portion to have common guideways. If the rear wall portion and the rear roof portion are not interconnected or are movably interconnected, however, the rear wall portion is preferably movable in guides which are connected to a stationary portion of the vehicle body.
It is noted, perhaps unnecessarily, that the rear wall portion may co-act with guides, and that the rear wall portion may be connected to the rear roof portion in such a manner that it does not have any guideways of its own.
The stationary portion to which guides for the rear wall portion, if present, are connected, can be made up of the side walls and/or the front roof portion.
The rear wall portion may be a hatchback of the vehicle, which may or may not be provided with a rear window. Generally, such a hatchback is pivotally connected to the roof portion that is disposed thereabove, in this case the aforesaid rear wall portion.
The rear roof portion can form a closure element of an open roof construction. In such a case the closure element has a dual function: when said closure element is moved, a roof opening is formed in the manner of a sun roof, as is usual with an open roof construction. When the closure element is moved along with the rear wall portion, a freely accessible loading space is obtained in the above-described manner.
According to a final possibility, the side walls of the vehicle body are at least partially removable in the forward position of the rear wall portion and the rear roof portion. In that case the loading space that is created is adapted for accommodating even larger objects, which may also extend beyond the lateral boundaries of the vehicle.